Not much has been heard of Jonathan Sacks since the end of his 22-year tenure
as Britain’s chief rabbi in 2013 — but the hugely likeable academic has put
himself back in the public square this summer with a new book based on 12
years of hard scholarship to argue a simple point: religion does not cause
wars.
The blurb on the book jacket says: “This book is a rebuke to all those who
kill in the name of the God of life, wage war in the name of the God of
peace, hate in the name of the God of love, and practise cruelty in the name
of the God of compassion. For the sake of

You could argue that those who fret about the monoracial, monocultural nature of superheroes rather miss the point. After all, the likes of Superman are barely human, let alone of a particular ethnicity. Some, such as the Incredible Hulk, aren’t black or white but green. Nevertheless, following recent controversies over the possibility of black actors playing James Bond and Spiderman, some US comic strip creators, frustrated that children of colour only have white characters to look up to, have gone one step further and created Super Sikh.
Not that there seems to be anything superheroic about

If you are drunk, disorientated and alone in Watford on a Friday night, the chances are you will be helped by a Christian in a black jacket. The modern-day “good Samaritan” will try to find your friends, give you a blanket if it is cold, and may even pay for your taxi home. The figure’s jacket will bear a logo that says “Street Angels”.
There are 30 Street Angels in Watford. They walk around the town centre in threes from about 9pm till 4am — seeking to keep revellers safe. Debbie Sharp, 51, a chaplain and office manager at a primary school, has been a Street Angel for eight years. She loves

The Muslim Council of Britain faces stinging criticism that it does not do
enough at the grassroots level to prevent the radicalisation of Britain’s
Islamic youth, but answering such a charge does not sour the smile of Dr
Shuja Shafi, its secretary-general.
Since taking over the running of the only organisation to represent British
Islam across the sectarian divide, Shafi has sought to repair its damaged
relations with the government and police in a bid to find solutions to the
problem of young British Muslims who are abandoning the country of their
birth to join Islam

India’s commitment to religious freedom, enshrined in its constitution, is
coming under increasing threat from Hindutva — Hindu nationalism.
This ideology, which boasts India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, among its
adherents, has always resented the special place that India’s constitution
extends to its minority religions — such as allowing Muslims to use Sharia
in their civil matters. Now, Hindutva elements have started attacking the
right of other religions to exist in India because,they maintain, India
belongs only to those that can claim it as their fatherland and h